Unwanted
by CreCra
Summary: I never wanted to be a firebender. I grew up in the Earth Kingdom. I look like I'm from the Earth Kingdom. There is no Fire Nation in my blood. So why do flames dance along my fingertips when I'm agitated? T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is just a random little plot that popped into my mind, and I felt the need to write it! This is a tester. I want to know how to improve and if I should continue. Tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mika**

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I never wanted to be a firebender. I'm completely clueless to why I am. Aside from my amber eyes, I don't really look like one, with my fair, freckle-flecked skin, and dark brown hair. I certainly don't act like one, either. I was born in Omashu. My mother was an earthbender, and my father was a non-bender. There is no Fire Nation in my blood. How is it possible that I can shoot flames from my fingertips? I'm the only one who knows. I wouldn't even tell my brother, Zumorito. The day I discovered I was a firebender was the day I lost everything.

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I had turned fourteen just a few days before. It was a hot, humid, summer night, and I had just left my friend's house after her birthday celebration. It was a little after curfew, but I wasn't worried. I'd been out after curfew many times before, and the guards on night patrol never saw me. I was silent as I ran along the side of the streets, headed for home. "Yeah, I heard about that. Poor guy." I froze in place when I heard the voices of guards.

"I know. I hear he was . . ."

I ducked into an alley that was luckily nearby, and held my breath. The light of a lantern shone across the street, and I saw three heavily armored men tromp by me. As soon as they had passed the alley, I darted out of my hiding place and—

"OOF!" I fell ungracefully face first onto the ground, having tripped on something.

"What was that?" I heard one of the guards, who hadn't yet turned the corner, say. Suddenly a bright light blinded my eyes, and I instinctively shaded them with my hand. I scrambled to my feet, sprinting for the corner.

"Hey, you!" I heard the rough, raspy voice of one of the guards close on my tail yell. "Stop right there!"

I kept running. I was almost to the next alley. If I could just— BAM! I ran smack into the middle of another group o guards. Just my luck.

"What have we got here?" I heard a woman's voice. "A stray after curfew!"

The guards that had been chasing me had caught up, and I was surrounded. Uh-oh.

"Halt." A tall man that had been behind me wheezed, trying to catch his breath. I did as I was told. "You will be escorted to a holding place until your parents can pick you up. What is your name?"

"Mika Chiari Shimoku." I folded my arms over my chest.

"And your parents' names?"

"They're dead." I spat through my teeth.

"Who is responsible for you?"

"My brother, Zumorito Kutemei Shimoku."

"How old is he?"

"Eighteen."

The guard humphs, and takes out a little book from his belt. "Hmmm . . ." He flips through the book. After what felt like three hours, he clears his throat. "I'm sorry, but your brother is not legally able to be your guardian. Would you happen to have any relatives nearby?"

"No." What? I've been living with Zumorito for as long as I can remember! I think.

"No aunts, uncles, grandparents? No one to take you in?"

"My brother is the only family I have left." I grumble.

"Hm, well, in that case, I suppose we have no choice but to put you in the orphanage." He tucked the book carefully back into his belt.

"What? No! I can't go there! I won't!" So many emotions flashed through my mind, I could barely hear myself think.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but you will be taken to the orphanage. Now, if you could just—"

"No!" I yelled. "No! You can't take me away from him! He's all I have left! My only family! You can't!"

"Look, kid, if you don't cooperate—" He reached for my arm.

"Don't touch me!" I yank my arm back.

"Oh dear," He sighs, and motions to the guards on the other side of me, and they nod. The circle around me got smaller. Hands reached out to grab me. My breathing accelerated, and my heart raced. No, no! No, no, no!

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" I threw my hands out, and a hot, tingling sensation spanned across my arms. Hot, orange flames engulfed my arms and lashed out at the guards surrounding me. I gasped and dropped my arms to my side. The guards stared at me a moment.

"She's a firebender!"

"Get her!"

I only had time to gasp before a heavy object collided with my head, and everything went black.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Everything hurt. My vision was fuzzy, and I blinked my eyes. I was in a forest, lying under a tree. I tried to move my arms, but my hands and feet were bound together. My eyes widened. _What's going on? _I heard muffled voices that seemed to be coming from my right. I sat up with a loud groan and looked to my right. A group of four men sat around a fire, talking and eating. And then I remembered. The shouting. The screaming. The pain. Emotional and physical.

I must have made noise, because I saw one of the guards' spines straighten.

"You guys hear that?" He asked. The man turned around and looked at me. We locked eyes; I keep mine wide and don't blink, daring him to look away. He turned back to the others.

"She's awake." I heard more mumbling, and a little shouting. After a few minutes of what I interpreted as bickering, the guards turned back to me, and stood up. They surrounded me, all staring down at me. I straightened my back, though it hurt terribly, and looked them all right in the eye.

"All right, missy," a short, rough man bent down to my eye level. "you're gonna do what we say, and give us the truth."

"And if I don't?" I spat in his face.

His muddy brown eyes narrowed. "We'll see."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Tell me! NOW!" The man thundered.

"I said I don't know!" I yelled back at him. His eyes turned to slits, and he slid his foot forward, bringing his arm up. A slab of rock emerged from the ground next to me. He grunted, and stomped his foot, then waved his arm up. The rock broke, and was fashioned into what resembled a dagger. He lowered the sharp rock so that it was just hovering about two inches below my ear, on my neck. My heart was racing so fast and loud, I swear the other guards could hear it.

"WHAT DO YOU KNOW?" He boomed.

My jaw trembled. I had no idea what he was talking about; I _couldn't_ answer him.

"I don't know anything, I swear!"

He growled, a low sound deep from his throat. I felt the cool rock press harder against my neck. I strained away, but the rock followed. It pressed harder. I bit my lip, concealing a yelp as I felt hot liquid leak down my neck. The rock dragged downward in a thick, zigzagged line. When it reached my shoulder, I couldn't hold back the screams. I opened my mouth and filled the forest with my cries of pain. The dagger pulled roughly, slowly down my arm, ripping the fabric of my shirt. The pain was excruciating. I was still screaming. It reached the middle of my arm.

"P-please!" I gasped. "Stop! I don't know anything! I swear!"

The shard pressed forward, almost to my wrist, when suddenly, it stopped. I heard yells and opened my heavy eyes to see the guards all being . . . _blown? _Into rocks or trees. I felt a gust of wind blow my hair back. I looked down. The entire right side of my shirt was soaked in blood. Suddenly, everything went silent. I somehow found the strength to look up, I don't know how I'd managed to avoid blacking out, and saw a dark silhouette approaching me. They stepped into the light of the fire, and I saw it was a boy. He looked young— no older than twelve. He kneeled beside me. "W-who are you?" I asked, guarded.

"Its okay," He replied. His voice sounded young. "You're safe now. I'm Aang." He looked at my right side and gasped. "They did this to you? I thought . . . the Earth Kingdom soldiers wouldn't do this . . . would they?"

He looked at me. I opened my mouth to respond, but I couldn't. My eyes drooped. His eyes widened. I noticed they were grey— I'd never seen grey eyes before.

"I'd better get you to camp— you need help." He looked up, back toward the left, and then back to me. He stood up, bringing me with him, and scooped me up into his arms. I rested my head on his chest, listening to his soothing heartbeat as he ran quickly and silently through the trees.

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**Send me your feedback! :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, here I am, in all my shame of having to delete stories. *****Sigh*****. Oh well. I guess I'm not "writer material'. But I still love to write, and that's why this is published!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but Mika.**

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_ I shot out of bed. Smoke. I smelled smoke. I ran down the hallway, bursting into my brother's room. Flames engulfed the sides of the room. He was still asleep. I had to get to him. I ran to his side. I shook him, and shook him. He didn't wake up. He must have passed out. I grabbed his arms and, using all my strength, pulled him out of his bed. I had gotten him to the kitchen. The door was only two rooms away. I was coughing, wheezing. It was hard to breath. _I can do this, _I thought to myself. _I can get us out of here. _I grab his hands and pull. I was almost out of breath. The entire house was burning. I could feel the heat on my back, stinging my skin. I let go of my brother's hands for just a moment to rub the sweat off of mine on my shirt. I shouldn't have done that. The long, wooden board that had been above us was then crashing to the floor. On instinct I dove out of the way, leaving my brother on the other side. _What have I done? _I thought. _He's going to die! _Tears spill down my cheeks. I started back towards my brother, trying to move the fallen wood out of the way. Before I could get to him, however, rough hands grabbed my shoulders. "Come on!" I heard a rough voice shout from behind me. "No! I shouted back at him. "My brother! He's—" _

"_I'm sorry, but we have to get you out of here!" _

_Kicking and screaming, I was dragged out of my own house by some stranger I didn't know. Once we were outside, he put me down, and when I tried running back to the house for my brother, I was held back my two more men. _

"_No! Let me go! I have to—to save—" _

_The house collapses._

"NO!" I screamed, shooting up off the ground I was laying on, and whipping my head from side to side. I was breathing heavily.

"What?"

"I'm up!"

"Ahhh!"

"Huh?"

I heard four unrecognizable voices around me.

"Oh. Looks like Sleeping Beauty finally woke up," I looked to my left and saw a small girl dressed all in green with jet-black hair scooped up in a large bun behind her head. She was sitting on the ground a few feet away from me.

I heard footsteps behind me, and turned around to see a familiar looking boy . . . it was Aang! He had saved my life . . .

"You're awake!" He bent down next to me. "How are you feeling? We were really worried about you. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." My voice sounded raspy and tired.

"You got hurt pretty bad." He looks down at my arm, concerned. I followed his gaze and see that my right arm has been carefully wrapped in white bandages. "We couldn't really wrap your neck. Not enough bandages."

"Where am I?" I ask him, looking up at the clear, blue sky. The sun is high.

"Oh, well, I guess you could say you're in the middle of a forest . . . but your safe here. You're in the Avatar's hands!" Aang pointed to himself, and my eyes widened. He was the Avatar! I just nodded at him, not wanting to make a big deal out of things.

"I suppose I should introduce you to my friends," He motioned to the girl with the braid.

"This is Katara. She healed your . . . um . . . cut last night. Of course, its not totally gone, there will still be a scar." He looked at me worriedly. I nodded.

"She's a waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe, and has healing abilities."

Next, he pointed to the small girl in green. "This is Toph. She's an earthbender from Gaoling." Toph gave me a little wave, and then went back to . . . whatever it was she had been doing.

"That's Sokka," He pointed to a boy on the other side of the campsite, who looked a lot like Katara. "He's Katara's brother."

Suddenly, a white, furry . . . thing landed on Aang's shoulder. He laughed. "This is Momo, our flying lemur. And that's Appa, he's a flying bison."

"So who are you?" He asked me.

"I'm Mika," I replied. "I'm from Omashu."

"So why were you being attacked by Earth Kingdom guards?" Toph interrupted.

I felt my heart accelerate. "Um, I was out after curfew." I decided to leave out the whole firebending part. If they found out . . .

"You were out after curfew?" Toph raised an eyebrow. "Why did they take you out into a forest? Wouldn't they just charge you or something?"

"Uhh . . . I don't know." I lied. The truth being that when I overheard them talking last night, I had picked up a few bits and pieces. Apparently the Earth King had been notified of what had happened, and they were supposed to take me to him in Ba Sing Se.

"Hmph." Toph responded.

_She knows I'm lying, _I thought.

I straightened my back and stretched my legs, yawning. I tried to stretch my arm, but the instant I moved it, a stinging sensation filled it.

"Ah," I gasped in pain.

"Careful," Aang warned. "You're still hurt."

"I think we can unwrap it now," Katara offered. "It's been about a day."

"A day?" I asked. _I was out for an entire day?_

Aang nodded as Katara bent down next to my arm and began to unwrap the bandages. I cringed; it still stung pretty good when it was moved.

"There." Katara bundled up the bandage and put it on the ground next to her.

I turned my head to look at my arm. I gasped. It looked a lot worse than I thought. There was a long, ugly, red, zigzagged line that ran all the way up the side of my arm.

"How long until it stops hurting?" I asked Katara.

"Probably just a few hours. Don't worry." She smiled at me.

"Thank you," I told her.

"You're welcome," she replied.

"Look, I hate to be the wet blanket here, but we need to get moving." Sokka, who had been silent the entire time, spoke up. "Well, that is, if we want to get to Ba Sing Se before I turn thirty."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Fine, Sokka. You and Toph start packing. Aang and I will help Mika."

"Can you walk?" She asked me.

"I think so," I said. I pushed my self up with my left arm (it's a good thing I'm left handed) and somehow got to my feet without moving my arm.

"Great," Katara said. She turned to Aang. "How do we get her on Appa?"

"I'll take care of that," Aang smiled, showing his teeth. They brought me over to Appa. "Stay still," Aang commanded.

I stood as still as I could, and somehow, he managed to airbend us both up and onto the saddle.

"Thanks," I tell him.

"No problem," He replied, flashing that toothy grin again.

"So why are we going Ba Sing Se?" I asked Katara as she sat down next to me. Aang hopped onto Appa's neck as Sokka and Toph joined us.

"The Earth King is there. And we need to see him."

_Oh no._

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**And there you have it, folks! Chapter 2! Tell me what you think! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Just to clear things in case you're confused, this takes place around the time of The Serpent's Pass, except that in this story, Appa was never stolen, and the drill isn't at Ba Sing Se. Hope you enjoy!**

**Oh crap! I just realized I've been forgetting the disclaimers . . . I'll have to fix that . . .**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA, only Mika**

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We had landed in another clearing just a few hours ago. I was currently curled up under a tree; my knees hugged to my chest and my chin down. I was a nervous wreck. Apparently, Aang and his friends had been planning an invasion of the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun. The eclipse would block all firebending for a few minutes, enabling Aang to defeat the Fire Lord. However, they needed the help of the Earth King and his armies actually getting _into _the Fire Nation.

I rocked back and forth, wondering what exactly the Earth King had been told about me. Had he been told of my appearance? My name? I hoped he wouldn't recognize me. Maybe I just won't go to the palace with Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka. Maybe things would be okay . . .

"Mika, there you are. We're all going to turn in for the night. Come on. You could use some rest." Katara smiled at me, offering her hand. I sighed and took it. Luckily, the pain in my arm had ceased a while ago, and it could now move more freely.

"Where should I sleep?" I asked the waterbender.

"We have a mat and blanket for you right there," She replied, pointing to her right.

"Thank you," I told her. She nodded and turned to her own sleeping bag.

I lay down and snuggled into my blanket. Taking a deep breath, I somehow convinced myself that no matter what happened, everything would be okay.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

I awoke early in the morning; the sun was just rising. I had always risen with the sun, and now I knew why. I stretched and sat up, blinking. I looked around to see that all the others were still asleep. I took this as an opportunity.

It was a beautiful morning. The sky was a light shade of pink, and the birds were chirping. To be honest, the birds were a little annoying, (they wouldn't shut up!), but the rest was beautiful. Eventually I stumbled upon a clearing. It was a big open space, almost like a meadow. There was a small waterfall flowing into a stream that disappeared into the trees. I walked into the path of the sun and stretched out my arms. Inhaling deeply, I felt the power of the sun run through my veins. I exhaled, seeing soft, orange flames grow from my fingertips. It felt surprisingly . . . good. Fulfilling. I inhaled again. This time, as I exhaled, I spun my arms in a circle, creating a spiral of fire. A giggle bubbled up from inside of me. I took another deep breath and concentrated on the pulse of the sun's power flowing through my veins. I swung my leg up in a wide arc, and a swirl of oranges, reds, and yellows all fused together streamed from behind it. I laughed again. It felt so good! I could never have imagined that feeling. It was so . . . oh, spirits! I was _firebending! _If I was caught, I would be dead in a second. I looked down at the grass. What was I thinking? If I couldn't firebend in front of anyone, then I couldn't firebend at all.

Suddenly, I heard a rustling sound from behind me. I spun around, my arms raised in a fighting position, my red scar shining in the sunlight.

"Who's there?" I demand.

"Relax, Sleeping Beauty. Its just me." Toph emerged from the bushes.

I lowered my arms, embarrassed, and felt my cheeks flushing.

"Sorry." I said.

"What are you doing out here?" She asked. "The others were worrying me sick about you, and I finally agreed to go searching. Took me a while, but I finally picked you up."

"Picked me up?" I question.

"Yeah. In case you haven't noticed, I'm BLIND." She said, lifting her bangs and waving her hand in front of her eyes.

"Oh, right. I knew that." I blushed.

Toph rolled her sightless eyes. "So I learned to sense things around me with my earthbending. I could feel you a mile away."

_A mile? I hope she didn't 'feel' me firebending . . ._

"I can also tell when you're lying."

I froze and looked at her.

She laughed, and motioned for me to follow her. "C'mon. You're worrying the others."

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"Mika! Thank goodness Toph found you! We were worried you had been taken by firebenders or something!" Katara hugged me.

_Yeah, _I thought. _It was something like that._

"Alright, now we're all re-united and such. So can we please get going? We can make it to Ba Song Se by noon if we leave now," Sokka interrupts my thoughts. "Everything's packed up, so let's go!"

We all climbed onto Appa, and Sokka sat up front at the reins.

"Yip yip."

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"There it is! I can see the wall!" Aang cried, leaning over Appa's saddle.

I looked over the side of the saddle, and sure enough, there it was. It was breathtakingly huge. I wondered how long it took to build.

We landed on top of the wall, and were greeted by General Fong. "What a pleasure to meet the Avatar and his friends," He complimented. "Kuai will show you to your house." He gestured to a woman just walking up the stairwell. She smiled and led us all to a nearby carriage, pulled by an ostrich horse. We all climbed in and sat down.

The ride around the city must have been the most boring thing ever. Kuai just droned on about "how safe we all are in the city" and how old the buildings were. I was grateful when the carriage finally came to a stop.

"And here we are!" Kuai opened the door of the carriage and stepped out, holding the door for the rest of us. She led us into a large house, which apparently would house us until we cold see the Earth King, which was just a few days in our case. Once she finally left us alone, I flopped down onto one of the many couches and closed my eyes, wishing for a nap.

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We spent the next few days exploring the city. It was huge! So much bigger than Omashu. There must have been at least a million people living there. I kept my head down most of the time, but what I could see was beautiful. I was especially fond of the roofs of the houses there. There were all a deep shade of green, and looked handcrafted. The detail was magnificent.

The evening before the day I had been dreading (our meeting with the earth king), we all sat together in the dinning room, enjoying dinner. It was silent as we ate, but not an uncomfortable silence. In fact, I felt quite relaxed. Well, at least, until Aang decided to break.

"Mika," He said. "I just realized how little we know about you."

All I could do was shrug. "There's not much to know."

"C'mon, Mika," Katara said. "Tell us about yourself."

I sighed. "Well, I lived in Omashu for as long as I can remember. My parents both were killed fighting in the war, and my brother has watched me since then."

"Why didn't you want to go back to Omashu? You know we could have dropped you off back at home right?" Aang asked.

I bit my lip. "I don't think that would have been the best idea in my case."

"Why not?"

"Well, the night I was caught breaking curfew, they asked me who was my guardian. I told them my brother took care of me. But they said that since he was only eighteen, he couldn't be my guardian. They said they would have to take me to the orphanage." I explained.

"Wait," Toph stopped me. "You said that they were going to take you to the orphanage."

"Yes."

"Then why did we find you being tortured in a forest?"

_Oh crap._

"Um . . ." I looked around the table. Everyone was staring at me. "Uh . . . I think I'm just gonna turn in for the night," I rushed, picking up my plate and lacing it in the sink. I ran up the stairs before anyone could say a word.

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**I just want to say thank you so much for all the reviews so far! They've really been boosting my spirit! Hope you enjoyed, and tell me what you think! Oh, and I keep finding myself changing tenses, but I don't always catch myself. Let me know if you notice any mistakes! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**First things first: I'M REALLY REALLY SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN LIKE FOREVER BUT DON'T WORRY PLEASE BECAUSE I'M GOING TO TRY AND MAKE IT BETTER. I had a really horrible summer. First my dog almost died, then my grandma actually did die, then I went to Saint Croix, and now I'm swamped with homework. Now I know you all do not want to hear my excuses, you (hopefully) just want me go ahead and start writing again. And so I shall. Right after this.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA**

_I'm doomed. So, so, doomed. I will be forever hated. Forever loathed. _I perked up with realization. _What will they do to me? Lock me up? Put me in the orphanage?_

_Kill me?_

_Calm down Mika! Maybe nothing will happen. But maybe something will happen. Maybe it won't be that bad. Aang's the Avatar. Maybe he could . . . I don't know; claim me as not a threat? But what if he doesn't? He barley even knows me! Why did they even let me come with them? THE EARTH KING IS GOING TO KILL ME. You don't know that! UGH! Shut up! This is ridiculous. Why am I thinking to myself? I'm so strange. Yeah really. You're a firebender from the Earth Kingdom. How much more strange could you get?_

After finally falling asleep, I woke up to what seemed like endless nightmares. After finally waking up to the sun and not the moon, I stood up with thankfulness, and then sat back down with dread. Today was the day we were going to see the Earth King. My stomach twisted at the thought. I slowly got dressed and walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Nobody else seemed to be up yet, so I wandered out to the backyard. And sat on the dirt of the garden. The flowers smelled wonderful. I loved the spring. It was beautiful. I remember that every May, Zumorito and I would go for walks every morning, before he went to work at the factory. We would collect flowers sometimes to put in a vase on the kitchen table. I remember the day we got the news that Mom and Dad died. We received a letter in the mail from the general. Their camp had been attacked in the middle of the night. My mother, Chiku, had been a nurse, and was asleep in the infirmary tent. My father, Shino, had been in one of the tents for the men. Dad fought, but it wasn't long before he was overtaken, and killed. My mother had been awakened and rushed out to help defend; she'd had some (though limited) training in fighting. She didn't last long. Many people died that night. General Ho and the few other men able to escape were very lucky to have survived.

On Mom and Dad's birthdays, Zumorito and I would makes shrines for them on the fireplace. We would cook their favorite dinners, too, and say a special prayer to them before bed. I remember I would always cry, and my brother would hold me tight, saying, "Everything's going to be okay." and stroking my hair.

A tear slipped down my cheek and landed in the grass. I covered my face in my hands and tried to picture my mother's face. I couldn't. I couldn't remember my own mother's face! More tears fell from my eyes. I blinked, and, wiping my face dry, looked up towards the sky. I laid back and watched the clouds. The wind blew my hair across my face, and I somehow convinced myself that I would be okay. No matter what happened. Even if they killed me, I would be with Mom and Dad again. But what about Zumorito? He would be all alone. He _is _alone. I jerked up. _He's alone. I bet he doesn't even know what happened! I just . . . disappeared on him! He must be worried sick! _ I started biting my fingernails, a bad habit I had come across only a few weeks ago. I sat on my hands and bit my lip. My mouth started to tremble. _No. Don't cry. Don't cry. _I squeezed my eyes shut and bit down harder on my lip. I balled my hands into fists. _How could I just leave him like that? Abandon him? _I was enraged at myself. At the earthbenders who took me away. They couldn't give me a chance to at least say good-bye to my brother?

What if they did something to him? I gave them his full name; they could have found him! Maybe they did . . .and maybe they didn't. I would never forgive myself if they did something to him. He's the only family I have left. And now he's gone. No. _I'm _gone. I'm the one who left. I can't believe this. So much has changed in the two weeks since I left. I loved my brother, and now I may never see him again. _Ugh, how could I be so stupid! I just had to stay late at the party, didn't I? _I wanted to punch something. I gripped the grass and clenched my jaw. Suddenly, smoke began to rise from the grass. I gasped and yanked my hand up. I buried my face in my hands and cried. Why was I burdened with this . . . this curse!

"Mika?"

My head shot up and through tear blurred eyes; saw Aang standing at the door. He ran over and kneeled by my side. "Mika, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." I wiped my eyes. He sat down next to me. "I don't know." I groaned. "Ugh, It's complicated."

"Is it so complicated that you can't tell me? Because it's okay; I respect your privacy." He said.

"No, no . . ." _Should I tell him? No. I can't . . . He wouldn't understand._

"Then what's wrong?" Aang asked kindly. He put his hand on my shoulder.

"I'm just . . . I don't know, It's just that . . .well . . ."

"Do you miss your Omashu?"

"Well, yes, but . . .I also miss my brother."

"You're brother?" Aang asked.

"Yeah. He's the only family I have left, and now he's gone. They probably took him away." I replied, hanging my head.

"Why would they take him away?" He asked.

"Because I'm his sister."

"But . . . why would that make them want to take him away?"

I took a deep breath. "Because . . . because of this."

I held out my hand and created a small flame in the middle of my palm. Aang's eyes widened.

"But . . . but you're . . . Earth Kingdom . . . right?" A look of suspicion overcame his face and I immediately regretted telling him.

"Right?" He asked again.

"Yes," I replied wearily. I hung my head. "I don't know why—or how, I can . . . firebend." I whispered, almost too softly for him to hear. His eyebrows drew together in confusion. "So you're from the Earth Kingdom . . . but you can _firebend._ How is that possible? Are your parents benders?"

"My father _was_. But my mother wasn't."

"This is weird. I don't understand. That's not possible. If there's no Fire Nation in your blood, then you shouldn't be able to firebend."

"I know," I said. "That's its so complicated."

"Why didn't you tell us?" He asked softly.

"I . . . guess I was scared," I told him.

"What did you think we would do? Abandon you in the middle of the woods?"

"Well . . . yeah."

"Mika, we would _never _do that to you. You're our friend. We're all kind of like a family."

I felt my eyes moisten. "Really?"

He nodded.

"Why did you take me with you in the first place? I mean, you didn't even know who I was." I said.

"I knew that you needed help. And like I said, we weren't going to just leave you in the middle of a forest!"

"Thank you, Aang." I hugged him.

"But please don't tell the others."

"Why not?" He asked.

"I just . . . I kind want it to keep it low key. Just for a while . . . until I'm ready."

"Okay. I understand."

"Thank you."

**Well, there you have it, after months of nothing, I'm finally back. Though like I said, I'm still pretty busy with homework and all that, so I don't know how often I'll be updating. Thank you!**


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